1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording material, a thermal transfer receiving material and a thermal transfer recording method therefor, and more particularly to a sublimation thermal transfer recording material and a sublimation thermal transfer receiving material which can produce images having good resistance to light, and to a sublimation thermal transfer recording method therefor.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In sublimation thermal transfer color recording, black color images can be formed by overlapping, for example, a yellow, a magenta and a cyan color image using three color (yellow, magenta and cyan) recording materials or a recording material in which at least three color ink layers are regularly formed on one side of a substrate. Otherwise a black color recording material is employed to form black images. These color recording materials include one or more sublimable dyes in each ink layer. However, there is no single black sublimable dye, and therefore, for example, a yellow, a magenta, and a cyan color sublimation dyes are mixed to prepare a mixed black sublimation dye. In order to obtain black images having good light resistance, each color sublimable dye preferably has good light resistance. Sublimable dyes preferably are required to have good thermosensitivity, good color properties and good light resistance; however there is no dye which has all of these properties. In general, the properties of thermosensitivity and color properties have higher priority than light resistance when selecting sublimation dyes for recording materials. Therefore, black color images generally have poor light resistance. In addition, it has not been researched as to what color sublimable dye the light resistance of resultant black images mainly depends on.
Because of these reasons, a need exists for black images which can be produced with low heat energy by sublimation thermal transfer recording and which have good image qualities and good light resistance.